Concert Preview: Coachella

The Coachella 2014 countdown is coming to a close! With weekend one (April 11-13) just a couple of weeks away and weekend two following April 18-20th, the weekend of fun, friends, good times and of course good music, we have all been waiting for is almost here. With all of the festival fashion tips and camping tricks, the main event seems to take a bit of a back seat. Of course, we all know the headliners and have our favorites we are going to see, but there are so many hidden gems breaking through the music scene at this legendary fest. With that said, here are some my new favorite artists to check out. They will all be taking the heat to take the stage, and I couldn’t be more excited!

Bombay Bicycle Club (Saturday)

The English indie rock band’s range of sounds is unreal. They hit the house music spectrum with building rhythm and beats leaving you dancing in a completely happy and captivated state in tracks like “Lights Out, World Gone” and have a slower and softer side where lead vocalist Jack Steadman takes a more mellow approach like in “Flaws.”

Bombino (Sunday)

Hailing from Niger, Omara Mactar, known as Bombino, has a completely unique take on the blues and rock music he puts out. His booming vocals strike a powerful chord with listeners and the unique instrumentals fuse his Nigerian culture in his music.

Foxygen (Saturday)

Jonathan Rado and Sam France make up the duo that is the psychedelic, american indie rock band Foxygen. I’ve got to say i am most excited to see these two. They strike a major throwback vibe sounding a bit Velvet Underground, slightly Rolling Stones, and totally awesome. “Blue Mountain”, “No Destruction” and “Make it Known” have hit my playlists on repeat, I can’t get enough of them!

Goat (Friday)

This alternative musical group from Sweden is classified as an experimental fusion group. One of their most popular tracks “Run to Your Mama” totally shows off this band’s rad tribal sound. The percussions are on point and the alluring female vocals add a cool contrast to the intense instrumentals.

J. Roddy Walston & The Business (Sunday)

I can tell this is going to be a really fun show. The American rock band comes from Tennessee and is known for putting on a really energetic performance. Solid guitar playing and drums back up the passionately loud vocals of frontman J Roddy Walston but the unexpected piano gives the classic rock and roll sound a little more of a jazzy feel like in their track “Don’t Break The Needle” which still leads in to their signature sound you can hear in “Heavy Bells”.

Temples (Saturday)

These guys are rad. The four English rockers have only been playing together since 2012 but in those two short years they have garnered a lot of well deserved praise. Temples cultivate a psychedelic sound in their tunes and the added use of keyboards really completes their music. They sound a bit like Tame Impala which hit the festival circuit last season but have their own grit and less electronic sounding vocals.

The Preatures (Friday)

All the way from Sydney, Australia, this five piece band hits a real soulful sound slightly reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac that you can hear in their track “Revelation”. Yet the band updates their sound with some electronic tones in other songs. The female vocals fronted by Gideon Bensen give this band a unique element of lightness that works really well with the soft rhythmic instrumentals, such as in their EP and SIngle “Is This How You Feel?”.

Warpaint (Saturday)

Another band with a female lead vocalist (and band) is the Los Angeles group Warpaint. They have a really rich sound that comes from the layered instrumentals and background vocals put together in this group of four. While the current crew is only ladies, you can definitely hear the influence of Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante who helped them arrange their EP. The opening guitar riff of “Keep It Healthy” really combines that building guitar sound and their enchanting voices to showcase the groups special sound.

Zoé (Sunday)

I had never heard of this Mexican band but am so glad Coachella is bringing this highly accomplished, Grammy winning group to the festival. Zoé is an alternative psychedelic band fusing entrancing instrumentals with Spanish vocals and lyrics blend for a really unique and cool sound.

About USD Media

Welcome to the official website of all student-run media at The University of San Diego. USD Media consists of USD Radio, USDtv, and USD Vista. All content is produced and run by USD undergraduate students. For stories, video clips, or live music, please check out the media tabs.